Search Results: IPCC

We are already suffering from the effects of global warming and the intensification of extreme weather events, and things are going to get worse. The question now is what we do to both limit the damage and adapt to the inevitable. Fortunately many of the actions that we must take will actually make our lives better.

About 40km from Warrnambool in south-western Victoria is Australia's first demonstration site for storing carbon dioxide pollution deep underground. In photos, it doesn't look like much - a few water tanks, sheds and pipes in a brown paddock - and yet plans to meet the internationally agreed climate change target are betting on the success of projects like this. This isn't a fringe strategy anymore. It is a big part of the mainstream, politically preferred approach to address global warming.

Geoengineering means intervening in the Earth's climate to offset global warming. It's hacking the planet on a monumental scale. The most widely studied proposal is spraying sulphate particles into the upper atmosphere to reflect sunlight, cooling the planet. The idea comes from huge volcanic eruptions, which can blast millions of tonnes of sulphur into the stratosphere, creating a kind of chemical sunshade. After decades of being taboo, this outlandish scheme is now being taken seriously.

Just a few days after we marked the annual observance of Earth Hour, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its latest report, emphasising the likelihood of an increase in extreme and irreversible damage. In light of this, the fact that we deem Earth Hour to even be necessary seems akin to prompting a dog to notice its kennel is on fire. Unless the dog is in very bad health, it would do what it needs to do to save itself.

With the publication of the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Los Angeles Times made the bold decision to no longer publish letters from climate change denialists saying climate change is a matter of fact, not opinion. While this might seem like a small victory, the more substantial issue on the horizon is the global campaign for divestment in the fossil fuel industry. As it gains momentum and fossil fuel companies will be forced to reassess the value of their assets.

Kiribati, situated in the central Pacific Ocean and home to 101,998 people — more than half of them Catholic — will be the first country to be drowned by global warming. While we wring our hands and climate sceptics pretend there is no problem, on Kiribati people are already in the midst of a climate change disaster.

Some will be concerned by the black and white treatment of climate
change in Tony Kevin's book. There is common
ground now to generate significant policy changes with a focus
on wellbeing, even while the CO2 debate continues to rage.

Kevin Rudd's announcement of a 5 per cent 2020 emissions reduction target is a betrayal. He has put short-term political survival ahead of his responsibilities to the next generation. Where is Bonhoeffer when we need him? (December 2008)

Kevin Rudd's announcement of a 5 per cent 2020 emissions reduction target is a betrayal. It appears he has put short-term political survival ahead of his responsibilities to the next generation. Where is Bonhoeffer when we need him?

Bangladesh is perhaps the most disaster prone country on earth, with seasonal monsoons and cyclones among its most destructive phenomena. The cyclical nature of these disasters has led the Bangladesh government to pursue a more holistic approach to disaster management.

It seemed a last minute reprieve for tropical forests could emerge at the UN climate change meeting in Bali. Because 20% of greenhouse emissions are due to forest destruction, stablising greenhouse gas emissions requires reduction in the rate of deforestation.